Seeking approach for a 3d city

[Wraith]

Wow, incredible!

Are there any good tutorials out there for doing the basics like setting the scale? I don't know how big to make things as I have no 3d modelling experience.

I was thinking about 3d because I don't want to do 'levels' of streets that I could map individually, but have them run everywhere and be totally chaotic. Streets can spiral up 10 meters then plunge via a narrow stairway 20.

I also need to distinguish properties from one another, these are even more complicated than the streets as a person might own a room facing one street then, via a narrow staircase and corridor, another room in a completely different structure. I need to be able to visualise this.

[RedKettle]

Are there any good tutorials out there for doing the basics like setting the scale? I don't know how big to make things as I have no 3d modelling experience.

I was thinking about 3d because I don't want to do 'levels' of streets that I could map individually, but have them run everywhere and be totally chaotic. Streets can spiral up 10 meters then plunge via a narrow stairway 20.

I also need to distinguish properties from one another, these are even more complicated than the streets as a person might own a room facing one street then, via a narrow staircase and corridor, another room in a completely different structure. I need to be able to visualise this.

Others down in the 3D section have cities developing in sketchup, so you can see what is possible with this method. I think Man in the Funny Hat has one developing right now.
http://www.cartographersguild.com/3d...5472-city.html

As can be seen in nematode's thread, sketchup is decent for quick modelling but the rendering capabilities sometimes leave something to be desired (unless you purchase one of the rendering add-ons).
http://www.cartographersguild.com/3d...chup-city.html

And a few examples of complex 3D action vizualized outside of sketchup would be:
Diyun City Map by Schley utilizes cross-sections to reveal the 3D complexity.
http://www.cartographersguild.com/ca...ap-schley.html
The Bridge District by Dain which lays things out in an isometric view, and combines this with stacked floor plans of particular buildings of interest.
http://www.cartographersguild.com/ca...rict-dain.html

From the tutorial section I know Ravells has a tutorial on cities in general, which might have some helpful advice:
http://www.cartographersguild.com/tu...arts-i-ii.html

Those are the projects I know of around here that might be helpful to look at and have not yet been mentioned, I am sure there are others as well.


I have trouble wrestling with design ideas and computer programs at the same time, so if I were doing a project like this I would probably start by sketching out some isometric drawings by hand to figure out the big picture (where the major landmarks are, how big of an area needs to be mapped, how the important parts interconnect, etc.). Then I would pick a relatively easy/unimportant section to start so I can learn the new software without worrying too much about the design.


Regarding the sizes of city stuff in general: I would pick block sizes (I think its worth it to study the city grids from different times/places to get an understanding of how the different block sizes work, even if your city is not based on a grid) and street widths you are comfortable with when starting development. Although you may not always follow the numbers exactly they can at least provide a good guide for a majority of the process.

Grid plan - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Some numbers I like to keep around for Urban Planning Emergencies are:
100' - the lenth/width of the smaller greek/roman city blocks
14' - the typical? width of a vehicular lane here in America. This makes a two-lane vehicular street roughly 40' minimum (at least 2 lanes and 2 sidewalks).
30' - natural light penetration depth in a room with 8-10 ft ceilings. This makes building widths around 60'-70' without good artificial lighting. One reason why apartment buildings get developed as elongated 70' wide bars, and when the bars can't go straight they are folded into Ls, Cs, and Os.
6" - approx. of typical stair height, so 2 stairs per 1' of vertical distance
4-5 stories (50') - the upper limits allowed for stick frame construction (which has been around since the 1840's?)
215' - height of monadnock bldg in chicago with the tallest commercial load-bearing (and iron-braced) masonry. I think some earlier cathedrals have taller spires/towers, but this is a good upper limit for my masonry-building-based cultures.

Sounds like an interesting project, good luck!